Gate spring installation
F
(http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Hardware//Heavy+Duty+Gate+Spring+Zinc+Plated+254mm/d170/sd/p74985
- http://tinyurl.com/yf25zqp) but it's not closing the gate so I'm
obviously not installing it correctly.
I've got it horizontal from hinge post to gate and have tried tensioning
it in both directions but it seems to work for a couple of tries and
then stops.
I've also tried installing it with a slight 'bulge, ie moving the two
fixing points closer than the length of the spring. That didn't work either.
Simples?
--
F
Bob Eager
I've only ever seen them installed diagonally....might be worth a try!
--
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pcb1962
>
> I've only ever seen them installed diagonally....might be worth a try!
Me too, and you may need to put an extra twist in the spring, ie
rotate one of the ends 360 degrees before fixing, so that the
unwinding of that extra turn closes the gate.
Andy Dingley
> I've only ever seen them installed diagonally....might be worth a try!
Ideally they're vertical (spring axis parallel to hinge axis), with a
"wing" to the ends to allow them to be installed on each part.
Diagonal installation should be as close to on-axis as you can fit.
Fit loosely first, then undo one end, tension and re-fit. You might
well need an assistant for that bit.
F
> Ideally they're vertical (spring axis parallel to hinge axis), with a
> "wing" to the ends to allow them to be installed on each part.
> Diagonal installation should be as close to on-axis as you can fit.
Looks like that's my problem. I'll refix on as near a vertical diagonal
as I can.
Thinking about it now, I imagine that the spring closes the gate as it
tries to unwind itself rather than straighten itself.
> Fit loosely first, then undo one end, tension and re-fit. You might
> well need an assistant for that bit.
Tensioning isn't too much of a problem as there are holes for a rod to
be inserted to rotate it (and then drop in a couple of inserts) once
it's fixed to the gate and post.
--
F
Roger Mills
F <news@nowhere> wrote:
Not sure what you mean by "got it horizontal"?
It's a *torsion* spring which exerts torque around the hinge axis in order
to shut the gate.
It needs to be mounted almost vertically - with one end on the post and the
other on the gate - just either side of the dividing line. You then have to
*twist* it to wind torsion into it, and then insert the pin (supplied with
it) to stop it unwinding.
--
Cheers,
Roger
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Harry Bloomfield
It should have been put in vertical, or rather almost vertical. One end
(top I think) on the gate, bottom on the post with just a little
compression of the spring - then crank the tension onto the spring,
enough to make it close.
--
Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk
PeterC
Last one that I fitted was OK up to using after putting in the inserts - a
few tries and they pinged out into the grass. The spring now boasts ch. hd.
2 BA st. st. screws with the threads filed down a bit for a light
interference fit.
--
Peter.
The head of a pin will hold more angels if
it's been flattened with an angel-grinder.
Roger Mills
Why all this talk about *tension*? It's a *torsion* spring for God's sake!
You apply torsion by twisting (and effectively unwinding) the spring - *not*
by stretching or compressing it.
dennis@home
"Roger Mills" <watt....@googlemail.com> wrote in message
news:7n4ao2F...@mid.individual.net...
to make it close.
>
> Why all this talk about *tension*? It's a *torsion* spring for God's sake!
> You apply torsion by twisting (and effectively unwinding) the spring -
> *not* by stretching or compressing it.
Virtually all the common springs in use use torsion but it is common to say
they are tensioned.
Roger Mills
But you're talking about the *internal* stresses rather than the overall
*effect* of a spring.
When you stretch or compress a 'normal' spring, the material of which it is
made twists - so the predominant *internal* stresses are those of torsion -
but you still correctly talk about tensioning it.
*However*, a gate spring is a different animal! It is designed to twist
rather than to stretch or compress. The predominant internal stresses are
actually *bending* stresses. Externally, you wind stress into it by the
application of *torsion* not tension.